CH 17

Although the man in front of them was brilliantly well-dressed, the corner of his lips beneath the mask curls up. He smiles at them coldly through his eyes before he turns his body sideways to lean on the gambling table, looking incredibly displeased as he studies.

Everyone can see that this is someone obviously wealthy. Xu Tong suppresses his emotions and asks, “What are you laughing at?”

“Heh.” Chu Mingyun drawlly says, “I’m laughing at someone for being oblivious to the immensity of Heaven and Earth1. He is obviously a frog sitting in a well, yet thinks himself incredibly suave.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have only been vaguely studying it from afar, and yet you dare to put up the facade of an impressive gambler. By just simply winning a few rounds in a small gambling house, you’ve forgotten who you truly are?”

Xu Tong glares at him and says coldly, “I know who I am. What business do you have sticking your nose inside? What is the talk of impressive gamblers? Speaking like you know it better?”

Chu Mingyun coldly glances at him. “Naturally, I know more than you. That year, His Majesty and I……”

“Young Master.” Su Shiyu, who is standing behind him, cuts him off at an opportune moment.

Chu Mingyun turns around to give him a look, then smiles and says, “Forget it. It’s nothing in the past worth mentioning.”

The one arranging the card decks on this table happens to be the manager of this gambling house. As he hears that, he raises his head to look at Chu Mingyun and says, “Pray tell, what is the surname of this Lord?”

“My surname is Lin.” Chu Mingyun mutters the first thing that comes to his mind.

The manager searches through his mind palace, but he couldn’t find someone with that name in the capital. Just as he wants to ask for more details, Xu Tong steals the conversation and speaks up first, “This is to say, Young Master Lin, you are not an ordinary person. Since this little gambling house is not your fancy, what business do you have here?”

Those flatterers from earlier come back to their senses. There truly is no one by the surname of Lin among the important people of court. Additionally, Xu Tong’s words further prove that this man is only a paper tiger. They immediately say:

“That’s right. How dare you go seeking for a  fight the moment you get here. Isn’t this just because your skills are too mediocre, you came here simply to flaunt empty talks?”

Chu Mingyun sneers, then raises his hand to simply put it around Su Shiyu’s waist. He speaks in a leisurely manner, “My little baobei1  thinks this capital is boring, and so I brought him to a very interesting place to play. One couldn’t have imagined that this is all this place has to offer. There is even a group of crows who toot their own trumpet.”

“……” Su Shiyu quietly gives Chu Mingyun a look of disbelief. He doesn’t remember Chu Mingyun saying that he would be playing such an identity.

Xu Tong and the others are shocked by his words. Yet, Chu Mingyun rises to his feet, still holding Su Shiyu. With a single hand, he pinches his bottom jaw and leans closer to gently say, “You have already seen this place. There’s nothing special here, so why don’t you obediently follow me back to have a drink?”

After a few interactions, Chu Mingyun naturally discovered that Su Shiyu deeply loathes physical touch. However, with so many eyes looking at them, they’ll have to make the show convincing. Thankfully, the Grand Secretary has an incredible tolerance for this matter related to state affairs. Although his body grows a little stiff, he doesn’t budge an inch.

From the way he speaks, the manager concludes that he must be from outside the capital. Additionally, looking at the way he is hugging that white-robed young man, although one can’t see their faces, it is difficult to mistake that air of refinement. For one to have such a person as a kept man, the manager thinks inwardly, could he be the heir of some Lord?

Su Shiyu is lagging behind a little. Just as he wants to open his mouth, the manager immediately speaks his part, “Don’t go so fast, both of you Lords. There is nothing special on the floor below, but there are plenty of things to see here!”

“Oh?” Chu Mingyun turns around to give him a glare, then looks at Su Shiyu. “Little baobei, what do you say?”

He drags out the final tone, making Su Shiyu feel goosebumps. He almost pushes him away, and only after he collects himself does he say, “No harm in taking a look.”

“Alright.” Chu Mingyun turns around. He immediately takes a seat by the host, his irises rolling to the corner of his eyes to give Xu Tong a look as he says, “Scared out of your wits? Dare to come play a game?”

“Why wouldn’t I dare?” Xu Tong angrily says, turning to give his servant a glare and the chips are offered. “Our abilities will speak for themselves!”

Those few flatterers all follow his lead and place their bet.

The servant in the gambling house takes the silver drafts3 Chu Mingyun has taken out. He changes them into chips and brings them back, drawing a cold laugh from Xu Tong when he sees it. “How large of an ego do you have? With so little money,  you dared to play the host? Consider yourself lucky that this Little Lord would even play a game with you!”

As the largest gambling table, all the people here always gambled at high stakes. After all, no normal person would bring a few thousand taels of gold on them when they leave their home. This gave Xu Tong an opportunity to mock him.

Chu Mingyun pays him no attention. Behind him, Su Shiyu suddenly says, “Added with this, what do you think?”

Chu Mingyun turns around curiously and sees Su Shiyu taking a jade out of his sleeve. That white jade is incredibly elegant, its workmanship beautiful, gleaming in varying colours in his palm. At one look, it is worth a fortune. He reaches out to give it to the little servant of the gambling house. “Take this in exchange for chips.”

The servant had wanted to receive it with glaring eyes, but Chu Mingyun presses Su Shiyu’s hand down. “What are you giving this out for? Aren’t you afraid I would lose it?”

Su Shiyu smiles faintly, placing the jade into Chu Mingyun’s hand instead. His palm is warm where the jade touches it. Su Shiyu says, “As long as the Young Master is happy.”

Chu Mingyun can’t help giving a low little laugh. He tucks the jade back into his palm, taking the opportunity to finger his jaw. “Look how obedient you are. How would I dare use your money? This little amount of chips will be enough. After a while, take a good look at how the ones sitting at the other side cry in poverty.”

Xu Tong is also someone knowledgeable with jade stones. He practically lost his senses seeing that jade, and inwardly says, Could it be that he has truly offended someone of power? His heart beats frantically as he casually asks, “What do you mean?”

Chu Mingyun snickers and says, “Why, since I heard you said you don’t have much of a wish to make, then I will grant your desire. When you lose your money in a while, you can play your part of being a little more suave, but don’t you cry. Otherwise, I won’t know how to coax you.”

“Go to hell! It’s undetermined who will lose and who will win! Look clearly!” Xu Tong pushes all his chips over. Even if this person is someone prominent, he wants to beat him to death.

The ruckus has drawn quite a few people over here. The people watching quickly urge the manager to dispense the dominos. The manager meticulously examines Chu Mingyun’s actions, then shakes the dice as he asks, “Lord Lin, you have both wealth and women. What else would you wish for?”

“I do.” Chu Mingyun watches the actions of the other people as he recites the rules of gambling in his heart.

“Then why don’t you tell everyone? This humble one could also see whether it’s fulfilled.”

“Didn’t you people say you could fulfill anything?”

The manager dispenses the dominos and smiles. “Of course. But it can also be categorized as easily fulfilled or difficult. You should at least let us prepare ourselves for it, no?”

Chu Mingyun takes those four dominos and splits them into two groups in front of him. He thinks for a moment and says, “If I want to have a night with the Grand Secretary Su Shiyu, how about it?”

All around him suddenly falls silent within a moment. Su Shiyu presses a hand on his shoulder soundlessly.

The manager is taken aback. He doesn’t know whether this person is trying to test him, or if he really is so frivolous.

Chu Mingyun’s expression doesn’t change. He decides not to turn around to look at Su Shiyu, examining the dominos in his hands instead.

Xu Tong, who is standing by the side, suddenly explodes into a series of explosive laughter. “How dare you insult me when you yourself are so lawless?! Is the Grand Secretary for someone like you?” He shakes his head in mocking. “I say, with that sickening look you have. Even if they truly did bring Su Shiyu here, do you think you could keep him beneath you? Even as a cutsleeve, you don’t know how to do it properly.”

Chu Mingyun gives him a glare and earnestly asks for advice, “I beg for your high opinions?”

Xu Tong says, “Didn’t they say the Grand Marshal Chu Mingyun is also into men? From the way he looks, one wouldn’t even know how wild he is in bed. The feeling must truly be ecstatic.” 

As these words make their way out, the ears of everyone around them turn red. Some of the spectators had once seen those two people from afar. Even if they aren’t into men, they can’t help feeling restless at the thought.

Su Shiyu’s hand on Chu Mingyun’s shoulder tightens, as if he’s afraid he will lash out. Yet, he doesn’t expect Chu Mingyun to laugh instead, and his voice even sounds a bit gentle. “Then, are you interested?”

Xu Tong feels a little puzzled at his response. He snorts instead, “After I win against  you, I will give it a thought.”

Chu Mingyun smiles at him through his eyes and says, “Remember what you say.” He then looks away.

His gaze is cold, making Xu Tong shiver a little and doubting whether he’d seen wrongly. An unfounded chill seeps into his chest and when he comes back to his senses, he realizes that the dominos have already revealed themselves on the gambling table.

Chu Mingyun’s stare doesn’t waver as he looks on, feeling that it won’t make a difference whether he bet on big or small. Both sets of dominos would compete for two rounds; two wins would make one the victor, two losses would make one the loser, and a win or a loss would make it a draw. The other three people reveal their dominos, watching the crowd as they say something like “mixed” or “bench”. He understands nothing from them; neither does he think of a strategy. He immediately reveals the dominos in his hand and the manager says, “Twin blossoms! The host wins once!”

Xu Tong is stunned. He didn’t expect his luck to be quite this good. Chu Mingyun casts his gaze over and Xu Tong returns it, and shouts, “Again!” Immediately, Xu Tong flips the dominos in his hand around. After being here for many days, it wasn’t completely due to his flatterers. He did have some luck himself.

Chu Mingyun quietly counts, smiling that the dominos in his hand could not even win against one person. He calmly looks at the opened dominos on the table, ignoring all the cheers from the crowd around him as he gives a smile that speaks volumes.

“Why? Couldn’t take the loss?” Someone impatiently says, “Be quick with it! Don’t take your time!”

The manager also looks his way. Just as he meets Chu Mingyun’s smile and eyes, he is taken aback. However, Chu Mingyun reaches out to push the card in front of him and slowly says, “Help me flip it open—let them take a closer look.”

The manager looks at the domino for a moment, his expression growing conflicted. He sees Chu Mingyun’s focus waver for a second.

Chu Mingyun props his chin on his hand, smiling cockily. “Go on, open it.”

His gaze was cool. A shapeless pressure follows his gaze and rests on his shoulders, making him find it difficult to breath. That gaze belongs to someone who killed many through the years to keep the position he wields. The manager immediately lowers his head, no longer meeting his eyes. His fingers repeatedly caress the surface of the domino as he takes a deep breath, loudly raising his voice:

“Three Dings matching with two fours. The monkey king pair. All win. The host wins!”

The respective domino suddenly flips open; white and red dots are clearly visible on the black-painted domino. These are the most powerful matching cards in paijiu. Among the crowd of people, Xu Tong suddenly rises to his feet with a slap on the table, looking at those dominos in disbelief.

Taking everything into his sight, Su Shiyu faintly smiles. He understands why Chu Mingyun said if something is strange about this gambling den, then he would most certainly win. This isn’t a place of money-making; it is a palace to gather all the people of power within the capital. Even if his luck is poor, the people here would most certainly cheat on his behalf.

The manager walks out from behind the table, bends his back and respectfully says, “Lord Lin, this way.”

Author’s Note

Actually I don’t know paijiu……  I don’t even know how to play mahjong ORZ

I wrote this after searching up a lot of information. If there is an error, please point it out =v=

Chu Mingyun implies: All of you used money to show off your wealth, but I used Su Shiyu to show off my wealth (oi!)

[1]天高地厚: Refers to someone who is ignorant, naive, and hasn’t seen many things.

[2] 宝贝: Literally means ‘My precious’ to refer to a lover. I kept the pinyin because there’s nothing as close to baobei in English.

[3] 银票: A form of money paper.